Fallout: The Vault Dweller
by SwingWatchaGot
Summary: Steve's vault is attacked by raiders but is rescued when a lone Ranger and Paladin show up, together they help a woman find her missing family and uncover something bigger than just slavers and kidnappers.
1. Chapter 1: The Vault Dweller

Prologue

A man sat at a campfire surrounded by squatters, chem junkies, Soldiers, just about anyone was there.

"Gather 'round I got a Tale for you guys." he said.

Everyone moved in closer and listened

The man cleared his throat and spoke.

" Since the dawn of humankind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything: from god, to justice, to simple; psychotic rage.

In the year 2077, after millennia of armed conflict, the destructive nature of man could sustain itself no longer. The world was plunged into an abyss of nuclear fire and radiation.

But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the apocalypse was simply the prologue to another bloody chapter of human history. For man had succeeded in destroying the world, but instead of humanities story coming to an end a new chapter was started and civilization struggled to thrive.

Through these struggles stories were told and passed throughout the wasteland. This is one of those tales.

 **Chapter 1: The Vault Dweller**

Steve stood in his room scared half to death and trembling. Just moments earlier raiders finally breached the vault door Steve thought to be unbreachable. They slowly made their way through his vault mercilessly murdering everyone they came across for pure pleasure. Now Steve stood there possibly the only one left in the vault. He felt sweat build up on his forehead his heart was pounding, he heard banging on his door

"Don't you worry we'll get in there one way or another." said a gravely voice from behind the door.

Suddenly Steve heard gunshots ring out and suddenly Steve's' door flung open, there in the doorway stood a tall figure he wore a duster with black armor fittings on the inside, and a black helmet with red glowing eyes while holding a silver revolver. Steve shut his eyes waiting for a gunshot but he didn't hear one all he heard was a click

"Jesus Christ kid, you okay?, c'mon get up." The man said through his helmet " Look kid I ain't gonna hurt ya, c'mon get up."

Steve did as directed and stood up as he saw the bodies of the dead raiders behind the man. "Got a name kid?" said the man picking through the raiders belongings for anything useful.

"Y-yeah,Steve. My name's Steve" he replied nervously

" Well Steve, my name's Jason I'm a ranger with the NCR, nice to meet you" he said extending his arm Steve shook his hand and said

"Well what do we do now?" Steve said a bit shaken

"Now we get the hell outta here, You ever shoot a gun kid?" said Jason holding out a small revolver

"Yeah I used to shoot radroaches with my old BB gun"

" We're gonna be encountering more than just radroaches but I'll take it," Jason said.

Steve took the gun, it had some weight to it, it was black and had a stubby barrel

"Here take these" Jason handed Steve a few bullets

"What are these for?" steve asked

"For that revolver you have, you'll be mole rat chow without a round ready, oh and put this on." Jason gave Steve a torn and battered trench coat

"why the coat?" he asked

"be best if people didn't know you were fresh out of a vault trust me." said Jason reloading his pistol.

Steve put it on, and the two were on their way out of the vault. Steve and Jason were almost out of the vault when they were stopped by a group of raiders standing as lookouts.

"well well well what do we have here?, You just cost us our whole team so now we're gonna shoot the hell outta you until there's nothin' but paste." one of them growled.

"Tried being nice." said Jason

He pulled out his gun and with lightning speed fired all 6 rounds sending them to the ground.

"Woah how'd you do that?!" Steve asked as suddenly more raiders showed up firing their weapons.

"If we live I'll teach you now get to cover!" Jason shouted.

Steve crouched behind a rock and shot at them, the pistol had a pretty good kick and almost made him hit himself in the forehead. Jason with pinpoint accuracy shot one of the raiders in the head as he lit a molotov. The man just stumbled and dropped it, the bottle shattered and the gas inside exploded resulting in a cloud of fire. Steve ducked as bullets whizzed around him. Jason could hear a loud thumping noise in the distance and it was getting closer and louder but he couldn't make it out. One of the raiders pointed to the left and shouted

"Guys, guys look!."

Steve and Jason looked up to see a hulking figure in power armour Steve had seen this Armor in many posters around the vault and it was massive.

"E-Easy there Mr. Paladin, this ain't none of your business now get the hell outta here before someone gets hurt… or worse." said the raider leader

He tried to sound confidently but, but steve could see he was shaking just trying to look tough.

" Do You know what happens to people who point guns at me huh? They die very, very painfully. Now lower your guns before I have to make an example of you," said the stranger pulling out a laser rifle.

"O-okay buddy we're leaving just don't do nothin' crazy I don't wanna end up a pile of ash alright?." said the raider leader.

" c'mon guys," said the leader before leaving his gun on the floor and walking off.

"Holy shit I've never been this happy to see a Paladin ." said Jason

"it's getting dark we should find a place to bivouac quick." said the man before motioning to follow him. Jason and Steve shrugged and followed the man.


	2. Chapter 2: Some New Friends

Chapter 2: New Friends

After a short period of time the three men arrived at a cave that the paladin was using as a camp. Inside was a campfire, cooking supplies, bedrolls, a radio, and a few large rocks. Steve and Jason sat down the rocks and Jason took off his helmet to reveal a chiseled face of a Caucasian man with a neatly kempt beard and thick black curly hair. the Paladin exited his power armour in the back of the cave and sat across from them he had grayish black hair, a more bushy beard and a series of small scars going across his face showing he'd been through alot and he wore an orange jumpsuit steve had never seen before. After a dinner of mole rat stew the three men shared their stories. Jason was the first to go

" I grew up in the Mojave Desert by myself my parents weren't in the picture much once I turned 12. I used to sell second grade arms with a trade caravan until I turned 17 then I sold my shop. With the caps I had made, I moved into a place called goodsprings It was an okay place, then I heard of the NCR or the New California Republic. They are the closest thing to a government in the wasteland, anyways they were trying to gain control of hoover dam to produce energy for their cities. well I signed up and eventually became a ranger 'cause of my sharpshooting skills which were useful when patrolling the mojave. I was on my way to the Capital Wasteland on a mission when my vertibird crashed. I wandered around until I wound up in Boston, then I came across your vault getting attacked Steve and I couldn't be a bystander so I went in to rescue whoever I could."

After hearing his story Steve was even more thankful to Jason. up next was steve.

"My family entered the vault years ago when the bombs first fell and we stayed in their eversince. It was okay plenty of food and water until that one faithful day the overseer thought it'd be a good idea to open the vault to the public well it went well for a few years untIl today when you found me Jason, It all happened so fast and I couldn't do anything and now everyone I know is now dead." steve said tearing up a bit.

"hey kid, it's gonna be ok I promise you." Jason said patting him on the back.

Finally Danse was the last one to tell his story.

"I grew up in the capital wasteland which is what's left of DC, scavenging, scraping for the few pieces of scrap I could find to sell. With the few possessions I had to my name I moved to rivet city a settlement made out of an old beached aircraft carrier and opened up a junk stand. One day the Brotherhood of Steel came by on a recruiting sweep. After I saw what the Brotherhood had to offer I signed up and was sent to the commonwealth on a recon mission. we were based out of the old cambridge police station here in the commonwealth until we got overrun by feral ghouls we were getting attacked when a vault dweller like yourself arrived and gave us a hand. We became good friends he helped destroy the institute a shadowy organization that kidnapped people for their own sick experiments that kept everyone living in fear. Then with the help of a local militia called the 'Minutemen' he helped us fight the many enemies we had but for the brotherhood the casualties kept piling up and in a desperate attempt to cut our losses our elder loaded up all of our highest members onto our ship and took of while those on the ground held the enemy back my platoon and I got left behind with a few others my whole platoon was wiped out that day I even watched our ship leave Boston myself. Then I realised the Brotherhood didn't care if I lived so long as their mission did and they were willing to send thousands off to the slaughter to ensure it. After a few years the dweller disappeared and I never knew what happened. I roamed the commonwealth as a hired gun until I came across you two and well you know the rest."

Danse got up and extended his arm out to steve

" We never had a proper introduction, I'm Danse pleasure to make your acquaintance."

steve shook his hand and the three talked for a bit and then went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: Family Troubles

Chapter 3: Family Troubles

The next morning Steve and his new friends traveled to a place Danse knew about called Sanctuary Hills it was the minutemen's largest settlement. Steve and his new companions arrived at the entrance a tall flagpole boasted a blue flag in the middle was a rifle and a lightning bolt across one another. At the guard post stood a man holding a strange looking Laser rifle the three men walked up to the man to see if they could enter

" welcome to Fort Sanctuary what's your business here?" said the man

"Garvey it's me Danse we just wanna have a look around ." Danse said.

Steve looked at preston and his eyes lit up

"well I'll be Paladin Danse oh ex-paladin Danse haven't seen you since way back when." said preston with a smile.

"yeah it's been awhile Preston ." Danse said.

"well come in feel free to ask any questions and I hope y'all enjoy your stay here" Preston said.

He stepped aside and opened the large gate that closed the fort off from the outside. the three split up and went about their business: Danse went to repair his armor and find some fusion cores, Jason went looking for a place to eat, and Steve went sightseeing he wanted to see this new world he'd been thrown in. Steve walked around taking in the sights, saying hi to a few locals. He enjoyed seeing the minutemen soldiers go about their day doing drills and target practice. He stopped by an old house and it had a sign that read "sheriff's locker" Steve walked in and looked around, the house was decent, the walls were full of posters, two sentry guns sat on opposite ends of the room, and there was a counter where a man sat and behind him guns decked the wall. The man wore a battered old brown duster but it was hard to see his face as it was covered by a cowboy hat, he leaned on the counter not moving.

" Hey kid c'mere" said the man in a deep voice.

Steve walked over to the man

" you ain't from around here are you."

" No i'm not how'd you know?" Steve asked

" I've never seen you before an- well i'll be you're a vault dweller ain't ya." said the man with a hint of excitement in his voice as he glanced at him

" what makes you think that?." Steve replied

He leaning on the counter like the man

"You have a fish out of water look about you and that pip-boy is a dead giveaway. Ya' know I used to know a guy back when I lived in the Capital Wasteland. Vault dweller aswell nice kid back then I used to be the mayor of Megaton a settlement built out of a nuke crater. That kid even disarmed the nuke and prolly saved us all. Good kid," he chuckled,

" so ya' got a name kid?" asked the man

" yeah my names Steve." he answered

" well Steve my name's Lucas...Lucas Simms" said the man lifting his head to reveal the face of an older black man. He had a white beard and held a large bullet in his mouth like a cigar with a smile.

" now I doubt you stood here just to hear me ramble What did you need?" he asked

" what do you sell?" steve asked

" well kid I sell the best ordinance in town from bullets to bombs to guns so big you could take on a deathclaw! If you need to pack some heat I'm the guy you wanna meet… what can I get ya."

so after a few minutes steve bought himself a nice .357 revolver and bought a sack-full of rounds, he waved bye at Lucas and Lucas just tipped his hat. He wandered about for a few hours till he came across an old Mr. Handy robot going about his business it turned around to point it's 3 eyes at steve

"Why hello young sir! my name's codsworth I'm the local guide here at fort Sanctuary how can I be of service?" Said the old robot in a mechanized British accent

"I'm fine right now codsworth thanks." Steve said

" Very well I'll be here if you need me like I always am sir." said the Mr. handy in a sad tone.

Steve walked away and found both Danse and Jason playing poker at a table with some locals he walked over to Jason and sat down next to him

"What are you doing you're gonna lose a crap-load of money gambling here" steve warned,

Jason leaned back and showed his cards to steve

"look" he said eyeing the other players, steve let out a long whistle of approval " see i can't lose" Jason said confidently with a smirk on his face.

"BOOM!" Jason yelled " full house! gimme your Caps!" Jason said throwing his cards down and scooping in the pile of caps at the center of the table

"Are you serious! " Danse yelled slamming his fist on the table

"Nice job Scavver."

"Lucky bastard!"

Steve watched as Jason scooped the caps into a sack and put them in his coat. Steve and the two men were making their way out when they were stopped by woman she had messy blonde hair and wore a dirty sundress

"Please, you have to help me please" said the woman crying hysterically.

Danse kneeled down to the woman

" calm down we can help just tell us what's wrong" he said.

the woman wiped her face and looked at Danse

"raiders, gangsters, somebody took my family I asked the minutemen but they're too busy I need you to help me find them please, I woke up to my husband and daughters screaming I tried to help but they just knocked me out and left me, when I came to they were gone"

Steve knelt down and looked at the woman

" we'll find them I promise "

steve could see the pain in her eyes she'd lost her family just as he had and he wasn't going to let someone else lose theirs not if he could help it.

"I've got a friend in Diamond city he can help us but you'll need to come with us we'll take you there." Danse said chiming in

" we'll get ready and go in the morning." Jason said.

Danse and Jason went with the woman to go find a place to stay the night steve walked around for awhile until he came across Preston Garvey he was sitting down cleaning his rifle

"Hey kid how you doin" he said looking up and flashing a smile

"so what kind of rifle is that?" Steve asked

"This is a laser musket invented by the minutemen, with each crank of the handle and additional fusion cell is charged into one shot and then fired so the the more cranks the more cells are loaded which means more damage."

Steve was impressed at It's simple yet effective design

" So happened to the minutemen after what happened with the other vault dweller?, Danse said you guys just tried to keep to yourselves steve asked taking a seat next to him.

"well after we defeated the institute and the Brotherhood fought a bloody war against the large pockets of raiders in the Commonwealth, the vault Dweller who was now the General of the Minutemen our leader helped us protect our settlements and gain the trust of new ones while helping the Brotherhood in the war, but they couldn't hold out. then one day I went to go tell him about a few settlements that needed our help but he was nowhere to be found he just left no-one knew where he went so without the general the minutemen pulled back from the frontlines and stuck to helping the settlements around the commonwealth and that's how it's been for about 8 or 9 years" Steve looked at Preston who now had a distant look in his eyes

"Steve c'mon we gotta go!" steve turned around to see Danse motioning to go over to him.

" well Preston i'm sorry I wish he would have at least left a note." Steve said getting up

"yeah me too" he said

Preston was looking at what Steve now realized was picture of Preston with a man that he assumed to be the other vault dweller. They Stood carrying rifles and smiled like best friends. Steve left and joined the three other members of his party, they were sleeping in cots. Steve laid down on one and drifted off, he was exhausted. The next morning steve went to go look for Lucas Simms he found lucas, as usual he greeted Steve with a

" well how you doin' kid"

Steve greeted him and ended up buying some shoulder armour to put on his coat and a decent looking fedora, Steve wanted to look as professional as possible and his party hit the road. The group were traveling on an abandoned road littered with Pre-war cars and other debris when suddenly Danse being in the front halted

"what's going on danse." Steve asked

" Steve protect the woman (Whose name was Darcy), Jason let's go we'll try to see what they want"

Steve pulled out his pistol and took cover making sure Darcy was behind him, Danse and Jason went towards the group of people. Steve stood behind a wrecked car he gripped his gun anticipating a firefight and was right to do so as suddenly gunshots broke out Steve peeked over the car to see Danse unloading fusion cells at the raiders, Jason was standing back picking them off as best he could. Something caught Steve's eye, he looked and saw two raiders slowly making their way towards him and Darcy. Steve pulled the hammer back on his pistol, he popped out from behind the car and fired at the pair of raiders. He hit one in the chest making him stumble and fall back but the other one was now sprinting towards him gun aimed at the ready. Steve quickly pulled back the hammer and fired again hitting the raider in the arm slowing him down as steve pulled the hammer back again the raider opened fire Steve crouched under cover as bullets ricocheted off the car. the firing stopped Steve took this opportunity to peek over the car: the raider was reloading. Steve acted fast, took aim and unloaded a round into the man's shoulder, he screamed and Steve shot the raider again silencing him. Steve looked around for Danse and Jason who were finishing off the raiders. Steve had a slight beeping noise in his ear he couldn't get rid of. Steve looked around as it grew louder but he couldn't find the source of the strange noise suddenly Steve heard it clearer and it was behind him, he turned around to see a hulking green super mutant running towards him clutching a small bomb " Darcy run; RUN NOW!" Steve yelled Darcy complied as she took off heading towards Danse, Steve reloaded his gun, took aim and shot the mutant in the arm missing making him more agitated steve slowly backed up and shot at the object in the super mutants arm and as soon as he fired the object exploded sending Steve flying back a few feet until he landed hard on a wrecked car. His eyesight turned blurry and he couldn't feel anything all he could hear was the echoey voices of Dance and Jason

"SHIT! KID!" Jason yelled

He could hear the large footsteps of Danse's power armour approaching.

"c'mon kid stay with me here!" Danse said lifting him up.

The last thing he heard was " It's gonna be okay" before drifting off.


	4. Chapter 4: Valentine's Detective Agency

Chapter 4: Valentine's Detective Agency

Steve Woke up feeling stiff as a board he opened his eyes to see a woman leaning over him removing a warm cloth from his forehead. Steve opened his mouth and said

"Wait what?"

the woman suddenly jumped back almost screaming her eyes were full of surprise.

"What?"

Steve asked starting to feel his hard landing all over his body

"Hey wow you're awake. Your friend the ranger is downstairs waiting for you."

Steve got up slowly as he was sore all over. His knees buckled and he stumbled to the floor the Woman rushed over to him and helped him up. Steve then realized he wasn't wearing his jumpsuit just a pair of boxers and noticed a series of stitches on his abdomen

" uuuuhh miss can you tell me why I'm all stitched up?". The woman let go of Steve

" After you shot that mini nuke shrapnel was stuck in your liver and intestine and took a lot of radiation but luckily with help from doc Crocker I saved you." She said proudly

Steve saw his gear and said

" um miss can I get some privacy here to change?"

the woman nodded and left the room. Steve carefully walked over to his gear trying as hard as he could not to hurt himself more than he already was. He put on his jumpsuit which was covered in blood stains and torn all over. He put on his trenchcoat strapped his armour on and made his way down the stairs the woman he met prior was standing facing a cabinet writing something on a clipboard frantically while Jason was sitting on a sofa and when he saw Steve coming down the stairs he quickly bolted up "JESUS kid you scared the crap outta us we-we thought you were done for that fatman shell blasted you a good 30 feet and when we got you-you had shrapnel all over you and what the hell were you thinking! shooting the shell that close you were lucky you didn't just end up a pile of ash! Or turn into a ghoul!" Jason yelled looking angrily at him Steve looked at Jason who sat back down

" I guess I just thought it'd be better if I went up in flames rather than all of us." he said.

The door swung open and Danse stepped inside with darcy and a man wearing a faded khaki coat Danse looked at steve his face went into a grin and said

" well when were you going to tell us about your habit shooting nuclear bombs outta the blue."

"like I told Jason I just thought it'd be better if I went rather than all of ust" Steve said shrugging,

Danse looked at him shaking his head

"what Didn't want me looking like a her and stealing your thunder?" steve said

"well if you're done Joking around I'd like to get started on this case" said an unfamiliar voice.

Steve looked see the man in the trench coat strike a match and light the cigarette in his mouth illuminating his face he had yellow eyes, scars all across his face, and what looked like to be a large piece of his face missing on the side to reveal mechanical parts and circuitry.

"the names Nick Valentine Glad to see your awake ." said the man

After breakfast Steve,Jason,Danse and now Nick got details from Darcy and prepped for a long journey ahead

Steve looked around he noticed diamond city was based in fenway park the famous baseball stadium. He wandered about and came across a latino man, he had pompadour-style hair and a goatee

"Don't be caught dead heh-heh buy some protection at Commonwealth Weaponry!" said the man enthusiastically

Steve walked over to his stand to see what he sold

" Hey, you look like you could use some protection." said the man.

" Hey, the name's Steve by the way. So what do you sell?" Steve said looking around his shop

"Well Steve, my names Arturo Rodriguez I sell protection in the form of guns and ammo the best in diamond city, so what do you say? Care to have a look"

"Sure got some time to browse."

"Everything hand tooled, feel free to test the grips." Arturo said

He pressed a button and the wall behind him switched sides revealing his stockpile of ordnance: Pistols, rifles, shotguns you name it Arturo probably had it. Steve bought a few boxes of rounds, a second .357 revolver to help steve practice weapon maintenance. Jason had spent the last day teaching Steve about weapons to help him fight raiders and the like. Steve said goodbye to Arturo and left. He found the others standing in front of a building that read "Publick Occurrences." Nick was talking with a woman that wore a red leather trench coat and a press cap. He walked over and noticed the woman was arguing with Nick.

" Well Nicky I just don't understand why you can't take me with you if I remember correctly I was the one that helped you find the kid, I can handle this."

Nick looked up and sighed.

" I know you can Piper It's not that it's just I don't want you to get hurt, slavers and kidnappers are a nasty bunch but look if you really want I'll talk to the kid and his friends."

Nick turned around and saw Steve approaching them .

" Well speak of the devil. I was just gonna find you to ask if my friend Piper could tag along. She's the local news reporter and she could use a story like this."

Steve looked behind nick, the woman sat arms crossed. Steve thought about it for a minute and finally shrugged.

"sure."

After hearing this Piper smiled

"yes! You won't regret this!" Piper said

"Let's hope not." Steve said under his breath.

After Piper said goodbye to her little sister and everyone purchased supplies they hit the road. Nick explained to them that after slimming it down there were two people that could pull something off like this in the Commonwealth (Post-War Boston): The Institute and the Gunners. The Institute was gone so their prime suspects were the Gunners they were a highly organized mercenary group who were ruthless; no job too brutal for them as long as the caps keep rolling in but he doubted they were the ones pulling the strings in this operation.

Steve and his pack of companions traveled for 3 days until they got their first lead. At a bar while playing caravan Jason had heard that a group of Gunners were traveling through the local settlements to sell off some freshly caught slaves. After telling the others they decided to stay and wait until the slavers came and see if they had their people or if they knew about them. For the next few days they stayed in the village helping out and getting some much needed rest. Steve couldn't sleep though he'd been having vivid nightmares of that day in the vault when jason had found him, how he didn't even bother to check if any of his other vault-mates were still alive, Instead he just left leaving the survivors of the vault to die... or worse. He hated to think that he was probably the reason why a lot of the vault dwellers were gone, all because he didn't think to check if anyone was still alive. Steve usually woke up in the middle of the night sweating and his heart pounding. During this he would play some Red Menace on his pip-boy which was a wrist-mounted computer that kept track of his inventory, had a radio, Etc… he would usually play few games on it to distract himself until everyone else got up. On the morning of the Slavers arrival Steve awoke with a sudden jolt caused by the sound of pounding on his room door.

" I'm comin' I'm comin." Steve said annoyed.

He got up and shuffled; almost waddled over to the door, he opened it just a bit and saw Piper standing outside.

"can i help you?" Steve slurred rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

" um, I'm so sorry for waking you but I just wanted to interview you for my newspaper Publick Occurrences, if you don't mind."

" Yeah sorry piper gimme a minute to get decent."

"no problem I'll just wait out here." she said.

Steve closed the door and slowly got dressed he opened a can of cram and said

"alright piper I got pants on you can come in."

Steve sat down on a large sofa and spooned some cram into his mouth and he had to say it tasted pretty good for 200+ year old canned meat. Piper pulled up a stool and started asking questions

"so how was your time in the vault?" she asked raising one eyebrow.

Steve put another spoonful of cram into his mouth and spoke

"it was normal and happy, until the day Jason found me…"

piper looked at him writing down his words

"what happened?."

Steve took another spoonful and told the story

" we were running low on supplies so the overseer opened the-"

"What?" asked Piper

Steve cut off mid sentence as he heard several pops in the distance and he recognized the sound

"Jason's .44 pistol" he said quietly

"what" piper said confused.

Steve grabbed his coat and ran outside. Jason, Danse, and Nick were ducked behind debris dodging bullets.

"They ain't all gonna miss kid GET DOWN." Nick said

Steve pulled out his pistols and ran up behind Jason.

" what's going on!?" Steve shouted

"The slave caravan arrived and wasn't too happy to see us they opened fire on sight and have us pinned." Jason said Popping out and firing a series short bursts from his SMG.

Steve scanned the area and saw a flanking route he could take. Steve cocked his pistols and slowly made his way around the gunmen. He counted six and turned the corner pistols drawn shooting the guard in front of him. he grunted in pain and stumbled backwards falling on the ground. Steve had caught the attention of the other gunmen and the leader signalled for two men to engage. Steve kept firing to suppress them until he ran empty. He reloaded his pistols and got surprised when a Gunner turned the corner and tried to shoot him. Steve grabbed the man's gun and struggled for control until the gun was under the man's chin. Steve squeezed the trigger as hard as he could firing the gun and blowing the man's head open covering Steve's face in blood and grey matter . Steve came to his senses and saw the other man rush him steve kicked the man in the stomach. The man yelled and pulled out a combat knife and slashed at Steve slightly cutting his cheek. The man tackled Steve and raised his knife above Steve's chest. Just as he was about to shove the knife inside Steve the man screamed in pain as bullets pierced the man's back. He slumped down and fell to the side. Jason's reached his hand out and helped steve up.

"Thanks man I owe you one."

"Oh you owe me a lot more than one."

Steve saw one of the Slavers trying to flee steve pulled out a pistol and with pinpoint accuracy shot the man in the leg destroying his knee. Steve ran to the slave cart while the others helped out the wounded and took the leader in for questioning. Steve opened the door and a wave of putrid stench hitting his face making him cringe unbelievably. He looked inside and saw the dead bodies of many slaves the have been rotting there for days. Darcy looked inside and saw what she feared the most her family were among those decaying in the cart furious Steve walked over to the leader grabbed him by the neck and threw him on the ground.

" Alright motherfucker! Who do you work for!." he yelled the man just laughed

"I don't have to tell you anything." he said with a bloody smile.

took out his revolver loaded one round and spun the chamber

" let's play a game i'm gonna ask you a question every time i get wrong answer i pull the trigger you can only get so lucky. Who do you work for?"

The man just spat in his face

Steve pulls the trigger *click*

"Again who do you work for."

The man stood silent smiling

Steve pulls the trigger again *BLAM* the gun fires hitting the man in the shoulder

" ahh FUCK!." the man yells

"WHO DO YOU WORK FOR!" Steve shouts as he takes his finger and pushes it deep into the bullet hole

"aaaaaa uuuugh!." the man screams in pain.

"Alright alright i-i work for a man named Caesar. Just warning you though he's doesn't take kindly to those who disrupt his caravans." the man coughed up blood and died.

steve got up and walked over to Jason and Danse

" what the hell was that." Danse said frowning

"hey it wasn't pretty but it worked the man said he worked for a man named 'caesar'."

Steve said wiping his hands of the blood. Jason took of his helmet, he had a thousand yard stare and muttered

" caesar."

Steve looked confused Jason looked up and said

"caesar ? as in caesar's legion."

"oh no." Danse said sitting down

"what's caesar's legion?"

"All you need to know is that they're very bad people." said Danse

"So what now?" said Danse

Jason Stood up and said " Now we head east."

They said goodbye to darcy and promised they'd find justice for her family's death. With that Steve, Danse, Jason, Piper and, Nick went off to see a friend of jason's they traveled back to sanctuary where they met at a small shack in the corner of the town.

"Look you guys are gonna have to stay out here just in case this guy's a little off alright?" Jason said walking into the shack and closing the door.

They all sat down and rested, then after a few minutes Jason came out of the shack behind him was a man with spiky blonde hair, and a burn on his forehead

" guys this is a friend of mine from the NCR his name's lucky."

The man stepped forward and greeted them with a "howdy.'' he had an obvious australian accent and had crazed look in his eye.

" why the name?" said Danse

" 'cuz i've flown so many missions and took so many rockets I'm lucky my poor bird hasn't fallen apart yet." he said with a chuckle

" Lucky's gonna fly us east."

"oh right, i've got some rules though first paladin you might wanna leave your armor here the Brotherhood isn't really a big deal over there plus the NCR doesn't take to kindly to the Brotherhood, other than that don't distract the pilot and just to warn you I fly pretty unorthodox." he said with another chuckle.


	5. Chapter 5: Headin' West

Chapter 5: Headin' West

The group met at a large cave where Lucky was supposed to meet them they looked around When a bullet whizzed past Danse's face and struck the wall.

" You got three seconds to leave or I start picking you off!."

Jason sighed, twirled his pistol and holstered it,

" Lucky it's jason don't shoot."

Suddenly a large rock got taller and skinnier to reveal lucky heavily camouflaged.

" Well crickey i apologise i almost domed you paladin! Good thing i missed eh? Sorry about all that i'm just a bit paranoid on account of what i got hiding in there."

He said nodding to the cave

"let's head inside shall we?." Lucky said as he lead the way into the cave.

Lucky flipped a switch and the cave burst with light and in the cave was small shack and in the center: a green vertibird. Lucky went into the shack and came out wearing khaki armor with a two headed bear on the chest piece.

"Alright everyone Before we take off some ground rules first of all to my paladin friend over there you'll need to leave the t-60 here my bird is tough but i don't wanna risk overshooting the weight limit on 'er there's a spot where you can leave it in the back it'll be safe here in my cave."

lucky points to the large metal door behind him " next up if you need to pack some heat before we leave my armory's got all the ballistics you could want courtesy of the gun runners, grab what you need enough ammo and and an armor set or two and meet me at the vertibird."

The group all went into the other door of the cave and sat walls packed with gun cabinets and boxes of ammo for a crazed pilot Lucky was armed to the teeth. Steve looked around Danse grabbed a laser rifle and some combat armor Jason grabbed a case of ammo and refilled his bandoliers. Lucky comes over to Steve.

" nothing find your fancy mate?."

"nope imma just stick with my .357"

" ah a gunslinger, jason's been rubbing' off on ye' i see follow me"

lucky opens a small box and pulls out a strange pistol.

"This pistol has been around all over It has no name take it."

steve takes the gun it called to him he holstered it and asked

" what's the ammo type?."

"5.56!."

Lucky yelled, they geared up and boarded the vertibird.

The flight took 5 days of non stop flying. Steve woke up to sounds of lucky yelling

" HEY get up!"

"what time is it?" piper groaned

"time for you to wake up sweetheart we're under fire!"

Everyone shot up

"Lucky we need to land!" yelled jason from the copilots seat.

Then the Vertibird was hit hard and the next thing Steve knew they were on the ground Steve woke up to Gunfire and explosions.

"alright we gotta fight on our hands people! Heads down guns at head level.'' Jason shouted

Steve drew his pistol and the gun switched on with a high pitched whine Steve took aim and fired, the gun let out a bang as the bullet nearly missed and hit a rock Steve ran over to Lucky and yelled

"who are these guys!"

"dunno they just shot us down and wrecked my bird!" lucky growled.

Suddenly a spear flew past the two and impaled Danse. Danse Screamed angrily and broke the spear's pole and continued on Steve fired off a few more shots, then a grenade landed and bounced of the vertibird and landed by steve's feet Steve grabbed it and threw it as hard as he could it hit one the assailants in the head and exploded Steve popped his head over cover to see men in crimson sports gear bearing machetes rushing them.

"what the?" then Steve was tackled by an attack dog.

He struggled with it until it was shot by danse Steve got up and saw the Crimson attackers headed their way. Jason rushed past steve and he climbed over the vertibird as he tackled one man slitting his throat, pulled out his revolver shooting another in his head sending him into a backflip. Everyone watched in awe as Jason dispatched them with a passion. One poor soul tried to attack from behind but jason's reflexes were to keen as he spun around and popped a round into the man's neck, jason took out a knife and threw it at another man hitting him in the chest jason emptied his chamber into the the last one dropping him to the floor. Jason walked back to the wreckage Danse slumped down holding his chest Nick walked over to him and kneeled down

"there there soldier, everyone stand back i'm gonna patch him up keep a look out."

Nick took danse into the vertibird Jason gathered everyone else around

" what was all that jason?" asked piper

Jason took off his helmet he had a snarl across his face "

you see those men they are legionaries from caesar's legion." he spat

" you kill every last one of those motherfuckers you can" he growled

" caesar's legion?" asked piper

Lucky sighed

"they are an army of slaves, they fought a war against the NCR here in the mojave both me and Jason here lost many friends to those bastards."

Nick crawled out of the vertibird wiping his hands

"Danse is all better he just needs to take a stim every few hours"

" you're a saint nick." piper said

" just doin' my job" nick chuckled.

Danse emerged from the plane bandages around his waist he put his chest piece and limb armor on and grabbed his rifle

"where to now."

"thank the overseer you're all better" steve said

" now we head to goodsprings" Lucky said Looking at map

"it's about a 2 day walk"

"well you know the area lucky lead the way" Nick said

"oh and this is a desert so pack some water."

The party traveled for 2 days in the scorching heat till they reached the small town, it was made up of a few houses a saloon and a general store Danse's eyes lit up when he saw the saloon so he, piper and Steve went in Jason went to talk to someone while Nick and Lucky went sightseeing piper, danse and steve sat down at a booth. A woman in her 40's walked over with a notepad.

" it's always nice to have some new faces around what can i get ya?" she said with a smile

" i'll have a beer." danse said

"i'll take one too" piper chimed

" got any soft drinks?" Steve asked

" we've got tons of sunset sarsaparilla" the woman said

"any food? Im starvin!"

"we've got some gecko steak on the grill"

Steve pondered for a minute

"alright then i'll take a steak and a sunset."

the woman scribbled in her note pad and walked away to get their drinks. The three looked around there were pool tables and a jukebox the woman came back and gave the three thier food and drinks danse sipped his beer, piper took a swig Steve cut a piece of the steak and ate it, it tasted surprisingly good better than any food he had in the commonwealth. He popped the cap off the bottle of sarsaparilla and pocketed the cap he swigged it it tasted syrupy and tart Steve was surprised at how good it was.

" how's it taste?" danse said

" it tastes better than nuka-cola in my opinion"

"now that's not true." danse said

" i'll bet you 12 caps you'll love it."

"you're on" danse said shaking steve's hand.

Steve called the woman over again

"there a question?" she asked

" can we get another sarsaparilla please."

"no problem."

the woman came back with another bottle danse popped the cap off Steve wrestled for it with piper until she pried it from his hand danse took a swig he smacked his lips a bit and took another swig

" you were right it is better"

"Yeah!" steve said triumphantly

Danse paid the caps as danse gave the rest to piper who also agreed it was better than cola. Suddenly through the door came in 3 men in crimson red tunics with sports gear attached danse and piper both clutched their weapons in anticipation of a fight. The men were indeed looking for them the woman at the bar frowned.

"you're not welcome here leave before i call the rangers own here."

one men then pulled out a machete and growled.

" touch that radio and the only thing the ranger will save is the bodies for the burial."

Piper got up and walked behind the men and leaned against the wall Danse clutched his rifle while steve also clutched his weapon next thing they knew one legionary pulled out a gun and proceeded to threaten the poor woman. Steve stood up and walked over to the 3 men

" now what's all this?"

The man lowered his gun.

"well well well, Caesar's looking for you and we're not going back empty handed." said the man

Steve held one finger up to signal them to hold on as he finished his sarsaparilla he then smashed the bottle and gripped it like a knife

" now unless you want to go back to your little camp a pile of mincemeat I suggest you leave..now or we can take this outside."

the men turned and walked out while Steve and piper followed just as the men reached the road they turned to draw but Steve was too quick as their guns stood in their holsters while steve's was smoking and all 5 rounds have been fired, the three men fell to the ground lifeless steve then reloaded his pistol and holstered it

" holy crap how-" piper stuttered

" Jason's rubbing off on me" Steve shrugged.

Out from the store was nick, jason, and lucky weapons drawn

"all good guys just a few legionaries." Steve said

They walked back into the saloon, Steve placed 100 caps on the counter.

"sorry for the mess miss."

The woman put her concealed weapon behind the counter and asked

" who are you guys?" Steve turned around just before he was out the door and said.

"Just your local private dicks at work ."

The group met at the beginning of the road and head off to find their perps.


	6. Chapter 6: Out in The Desert

Chapter 6: Out in The Desert

2 weeks later

Steve shot at the grotesque figure of a centaur a horribly mutated human that walked on four disfigured legs, but it wasn't fazed Steve crouched behind a large rock and reloaded but before he could do anything the centaurs large tongue grabbed him by the neck and dragged him out. Steve struggled but the centaurs tongue was too slippery and he couldn't get a grip, the creature growled at him and tightened it's grip. Steve thrashed about, he felt around the floor until he felt a big stone which he used to bash the centaur in the head and escape it's grasp, he pulled out his combat knife and sliced the creature's tongue off, it screeched and fell to the floor bleeding out. Steve picked up his gun and pointed it at the poor things head and shot it through the temple killing it instantly.

Steve returned to his home with that morning's breakfast. They had settled in the rock formations out in the desert east of goodsprings. Lucky walked out of the cookhouse cleaver in his hand " whatcha got for me today buddy" he said. Steve dumped the contents of his knapsack into a large metal bin.

"Some brahmin, gecko, bloatfly, and some cassador meat."

Lucky took the bin and headed back into the cook house. Steve watched the road and saw Nick and Danse walking up the road Steve went to open the gate that separated the groups home from the rest of the mojave.

"Anything?" Steve asked

" well we found out that caesars still indeed hanging around, people keep telling us to go to this place called New Vegas."

Steve looked confused

"New Vegas?"

"Yep" Danse answered

"I didn't think casino's still existed" steve said.

"Neither did I" said nick.

The three walked to the large table in the middle of their little village. Piper and jason exited their cabins to the smell of breakfast and grilled meat as they sat down at the table.

"Smells good Lucky, man why can't there be good food like this in boston?" Piper complained.

Lucky kicked the cookhouse door open with plates all up and down his arms

" bon appetit everyone!"

He rushed across the table setting plates down: brahmin steak, Gecko filet, scrambled radscorpion egg, Steve piled his plate and dug in everyone was eating happily, lucky stabbed his steak and eyed it down with a starved look he tore a chunk off with his teeth and chewed it happily. After breakfast Danse, Jason, and Steve left for New Vegas. They reached a large gate with a sign that read FREESIDE they opened it and went in the place looked like a post-apocalyptic slum, it reeked of radiation, vomit and feces. There was a man by the gate selling cooked rat and radroach and rodents scurried across the street. The three walked towards the shining lights of the other side when out of and alley pounced two crazed hoodlums wielding crude blunt weapons, one swung at jason who caught the weapon and disarmed him the man punched jason across the face and was now furious as he pulled out his gun and gut-shot the man, the other one went for danse who punched the man in his stomach and then threw him across the street. The man ran off and the three headed towards the gate.

At the gate were a few strange looking robots they rode around on one wheel and had screens displaying faces of a cartoon-ish policeman, one approached the three and said

"submit to a credit check! Or show your passports!"

It said in an electronic voice. From behind another voice chimed.

"Hey now boys let these three fine gentlemen through courtesy of Mr. house."

Another one of those robots rode in front of them but instead of the policeman's face on the screen it was a cowboy, the guards let the three plus the other robot through. 'The Strip' was amazing Steve couldn't believe his eyes the whole place seemed untouched by the bombs, it was in pristine condition it smelled of good food, liquor, and perfume. There were lots of casinos and a few drunkards walking around. Steve saw a casino with large neon letters that said "GOMORRAH" Danse nudged him

"hey you're not here for the women kid we need to find this "

suddenly the robot stopped.

"You're the ones he's looking for I assume?"

The bot turned around slowly.

"we need to ask a few questions." Jason said,

"Well follow me." said the robot as he drove off

They followed the robot up the steps to a casino shaped like a roulette wheel. The bot stopped and two other robots came up behind them and took their weapons "You'll get them back when you leave the three followed the robot into an elevator and rode it to the penthouse floor the doors dinged open and the three saw the beautiful sight no burns, no stains just cleanliness.

"Mr. House is in the room to the right next to the stairs, oh and don't try anything...trust me you'll be dead before you regret your decision." said the robot.

They walked into the room and saw a huge terminal with a large screen in the middle and on the screen displayed the face of a man with a pencil moustache and well combed hair.

"Why are you in my casino, in my penthouse ?" said the man

Jason stepped forward and said.

"we traced a slaver employer to you we wanted to find out some answers about this slaughter we witnessed."

"Ah yes the slave caravan i had transported from boston, you were the ones who attacked it yes?, well i can't have you running around Sabotaging my business. You should've stayed away from this for you have made a terrible mistake there are larger things at play here than just a few slave traders and caesar's legion and I can't have people like you ruining it!."

Just as he said that two securitrons approached from behind them Steve clutched his weapon but remembered they confiscated them at the entrance. Steve felt a sharp sting in his lower back, his muscles tensed, he froze as he fell to the ground, all he could see were his two friends being incapacitated and hauled off and the big screen that displayed the man's face now displayed another Image, now it was a large letter E inside a ring of stars, he felt another sting before he slipped into unconsciousness and all he heard was one of the robots saying

"God bless the Enclave"...


	7. Chapter 7: Home Sweet Home

Chapter 7: Home Sweet Home

Lucky sat at his desk in his shack lighting a cigarette, he took a couple puffs and sighed, it had been a week since Jason, Danse, and Steve left for New Vegas and they haven't returned. Lucky knew how dangerous the Mojave was he'd spent half his life living in it and he feared the Mojave had probably gotten them. They had no choice but to return home there was nothing they could do so lucky called a few of his buddies in the NCR to get him another vertibird to fly them back.

"Alright you two ready?" he asked.

Piper and Nick exited their shacks.

"Yep we're ready to go." said Nick.

The three traveled to Camp McCarran to pick up their vertibird. They walked through the gate and made their way to the bird, a man wearing a leather Jacket stood leaning on the side of the vehicle smoking a cigarette the as they approached the man took one last drag and threw it away

"well lucky this is it your new bird sorry about your friends, chin up though they'll probably turn up somewhere oh and I pulled some strings and managed to get you guys an NCR escort." said the man

Two NCR troopers walked up

"Lieutenant Brandon Fennel reporting for duty sir!" said one of them

" This here is private Grenier"

He said pointing his thumb at the other trooper. Lucky thanked him and the group boarded the plane. Lucky powered on the vertibird and took off it took 2 weeks to get home due to a few skirmishes with super mutants but they finally reached The Commonwealth but they didn't expect what awaited them.

Everyone looked in shock at what they saw: Several Vertibirds flew past them they were gray and had a logo on the side door which was A letter E surrounded by stars and below them a large troop of men in black power armor marching towards Fort Sanctuary.

"We have to warn them."

"With all do respect sir our mission is to Escort you home and return."

"Nick's right we have to warn them we can't let them be slaughtered." said piper

Lucky circled around and made way to Sanctuary. The vertibird hovered over the street as Piper Nick and one of the troopers got off

"You guys warn 'em, imma go grab something'"

Lucky shouted the people stared in confusion as Lucky flew off Preston approached the three two minutemen behind them weapons raised

"You guys mind telling' me what the hell that was?" he said in a stern voice.

"You guys need to get your soldiers ready there's a whole battalion of soldiers coming straight for Sanctuary." said Piper

Preston looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"on our way home we looked and on the road was a small army of heavily armored troops marching straight here and packing tanks too we gotta get ready."

Preston nodded and turned to one of the minutemen behind him

"go to the barracks and tell the men to fortify the city and get some men on the artillery!" he shouted

"Yes sir " the man replied and ran off.

Preston reached into his coat and pulled out a flare gun and fired a flare into the air

"that should help get word to the castle about this attack."

Sirens broke out as minutemen rushed to the armory. Preston grabbed a megaphone and began shouting orders

"all unable bodied adults and children evacuate to vault 111! All able bodied adults to arms! Defend our home!"

The civilians ran to the vault as those who stayed grabbed their weapons and joined the minutemen.

Lucky Landed his vertibird behind sanctuary and grabbed his cargo

"C'mon lieutenant grab a crate we gotta go!"

They grabbed what they could carry and ran in. Everyone was getting ready loading weapons and powering on turrets, Preston and Nick turned to see Lucky and Lieutenant Fennel jogging towards them carrying large crates.

"Thought you boys might need some extra firepower." lucky said dropping the crates and prying them open.

In them were missiles and Rocket launchers and Gauss rifles, lucky then pulled out a large Grenade MG and loaded a circular mag in it.

"Just a little something I picked up back west." He said smiling but it quickly turned to a snarl as explosions went off and shots rang out.

"FOR THE MINUTEMEN!" shouted the troops.

They ran to the gate to defend the fort, lucky took the lieutenant and joined them, this was going to be one hell of a fight.


	8. Chapter 8: Defending The Homefront

Chapter 8: Defending The Homefront

The gates to the fort closed and a firing line formed on top of the walls. Snipers picked targets off from a distance as the men on the wall held the advancing troops back. Preston fired his musket with precision getting some good headshots on a few of the soldiers, Piper and nick helped get the wounded out while the two NCR troopers joined the men at the wall putting their weapons to work one laid down suppressive fire with his service rifle while another emptied round after round into them with his repeater. Preston once again pulled out his flare gun and shot one into the air hoping to get some backup. Lucky stood up and raised his MG, he powered it on squeezing the trigger as the weapon whined and began spewing out rounds with loud booms, this helped turn the tide for a bit as the grenades from his MG rained down on the men exploding sending some flying and others peppered with pieces of shrapnel from their comrades armor. The snipers made quick work of those who remained as they fell back behind the bridge. Everyone took a sigh of relief, the wounded were carried off and reinforcements arrived as about twenty minutemen showed up.

"we got your flare, the castles assembling a defense force to protect our vital settlements" said one of them saluting Preston

"good" he replied

"we need all the help we can get, we got wind that these people are packing tanks so make sure our artillery is up and running.".

"Yes sir" said the man before jogging off

A Minuteman rushed along the wall handing out medical supplies and ammo

"5.56!" Shouted Lieutenant Fennel

".357" said Grenier

The man gave them ammo and scurried off they reloaded their weapons and tried to help the minutemen better prepare for another attack. The silence was broken abruptly as a loud cry could be heard.

"WE GOT MORE COMIN UP THE BRIDGE!" Shouted one of the snipers.

Everyone ran to the wall and took firing positions. Lucky peeked over and he couldn't believe his eyes, legionaries ran across the bridge brandishing machetes and spears while tanks took position behind them ready to send shells crashing down upon them.

"TANKS INCOMING!" shouted Lucky.

Preston yelled at the men manning the artillery and threw a smoke grenade at the tanks signalling the guns where to fire. Everyone took cover as the artillery opened fire, explosions rocked the enemy as they scattered to evade the shells. The smoke cleared and the tanks were trashed but everyone was surprised to see more legionaries running towards them shots rang out once more as snipers picked them off and minutemen tried to keep them away from the gate. The legionaries weren't going down so easily as a spears rained down impaling several men sending them off the wall. Two more tanks appeared out of nowhere sending a shell straight through their wall hitting their Artillery destroying a few of the main cannons, the others took aim as Preston grabbed another smoke grenade and chucked it as far as he could, the guns roared and soon shells hit the ground exploding, sending dirt and rubble everywhere. Another tank shell flew straight for them and blew open the gate pulverizing the sentries. The great walls that protected the minutemen's pride had been breached now they had to push them back or die. Legionaries and soldiers in strange power armor came in weapons raised, lucky and the two NCR Soldiers Brandon and Jake provided cover fire while everyone else fell back. Lucky Yelled.

"Come and get some!"

As he emptied his entire mag of grenades into the crowd of enemies, he stood on top of a destroyed car his Grenade MG roaring proudly, he flashed a sinister grin as he sent them flying and sending shrapnel all over them, Jake and Brandon kept them off of lucky picking off those who dared to try and sneak up on them. The minutemen regrouped and were back to defending the fort, for such a primitive design their laser muskets packed quite a punch a well placed shot can send a person in full power armor to the ground without a chance of getting back up. The battle went on for another hour with the minutemen standing their ground valiantly but eventually their defenses started to break, they had suffered heavy casualties and were running low on ammo but they couldn't lose this fight. Preston grabbed a pistol from one of the dead soldiers on the ground and shot a legionary in the head, another one rushed him but Preston fired two rounds into the man's chest and neck sending him tumbling down he kept firing, dropping and finding a new gun every time he ran empty. Piper and Nick were in the vault tending to wounded and making sure nobody left until they got the all clear and as for Lucky, Fennel, and Grenier. they were held up in one of the houses Fennel and Grenier shot from the windows while Lucky Chucked grenades and Molotovs. Even Lucas Simms was in the fight he make quick work of the legionaries with his Chinese Assault Rifle but one of them tackled the old man, the wrestled on the ground until Simms flipped the bullet in his mouth over and blew as hard as he could into the bottom causing it to fire sending a round right between the man's eyes. Simms got up and just dusted himself off

"shame" he said

" That was my last .50 cal BMG."

He chuckled as he pulled out his .357 and went to show the invaders how they fought in the Capitol Wasteland. But no matter how hard they fought the numbers still counted as their ammo ran dry and the enemy surrounded their once proud fort as the night grew dark. Preston and the last remaining troops grabbed their weapons and retreated to Vault 111.


	9. Chapter 9: Gatherin' a Posse

Chapter 9: Gatherin' a Posse

The remaining Minutemen stood silent as the elevator lowered them into the vault. Everyone watched as Preston, Lucky, and the others entered heads held low, they were covered in dirt, blood, and ash their faces showed to emotion. Preston sat in a chair and took his hat off in mourning, the lieutenant helped Pvt. Grenier into a chair and went off to fetch a first aid kit to patch up his friend's leg who'd taken a few bullets in the final attempt to push the enemy back. Piper and Nick entered the room.

"What happened? Is it okay to return?" Piper asked

"No." said Preston

"What happened out there son?" asked nick

" their numbers were too great we couldn't hold them back." said Preston

"Oh no." said one of the civilians.

"We better find a new place to settle down, won't be long until they find this place." said Pvt. Grenier limping over on a crutch.

"The civilians can go to our different settlements, the minutemen return to the castle. We gotta find out who these people are." said Preston

The next morning Preston rode the elevator up to the surface and sat in horror at what he saw Sanctuary had been set on fire the night before, now the buildings were burned out and large columns of black smoke rose into the air as if signaling the whole Commonwealth they had failed at their mission to protect the people. They took the next two days to disperse the citizens into new settlements while Everyone else returned to the castle. Preston met with the highest ranking officers in the minutemen accompanying him was Lucky and the two troopers.

"How can we be sure we can even stop these people, you saw what happened to sanctuary...Snuffed out in a day then burned to the ground." said one officer.

"No matter what we need to stick together against this threat." said Preston

"If I may intrude these people were packing tech unseen in this area that means these people have had to come from somewhere far." said lucky

"And who are you three?" said Ronnie Shaw

The Minutemen's second oldest active member.

"I'm Lucky and these are me mates, Lt. Fennel, and Pvt. Grenier, we're NCR."

They all looked confused.

"NCR?" asked Preston.

"The NCR is the closest thing to a Government in the wasteland, we're prominently in the west. We've seen tech like this back home from a few organizations." said the lieutenant.

Suddenly the meeting was stopped as the hum of vertibird propellers could be heard. Everyone grabbed their weapons and ran outside expecting another attack. When they arrived two Vertibirds one green and one gray were sitting in the middle of the courtyard while a group of minutemen gathered weapons drawn Preston and the two troopers along with Lucky approached the birds. Two men stepped out one wore an officer's hat and olive suit the other was a Brotherhood Member by the look of his robes.

"Attention Commander on deck!" shouted Fennel and both stood straight up and saluted.

"Greetings General."

The two men walked forward and saluted them

"who's in charge here?" said the General

"I am." said Preston

"We need to discuss some matters with you." said the brotherhood member.

"Well come on inside." Said Ronnie

They followed Preston inside each man was accompanied by either a team of knights or troopers like the lieutenant. They all gathered around a large table.

"so who are you people?" asked Preston

The General stepped forward.

"I'm General Lee Oliver, NCR Military." he said

"I'm Elder Sigrun of the Capital Wasteland chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel."

"We've come here because you guys are the only other prominent military here and a war is Brewing, we got word of your fort being destroyed by those wearing crimson armor and Strange power armor, well they are known as Caesar's Legion and the Enclave. The legion wishes to enslave all under their banner we've fought many campaigns against them in the west." said General Lee

"The Enclave are the remnants of pre-war America they want to take back what was once their home by force we have fought them in the past they are not to be under estimated." said Elder Sigrun.

"Why would they attack us and so far from their territory." asked Preston

"They have gotten stronger and they've joined forces which isn't good we have already engaged them in parts of Nevada and DC, but we are going to need all the allies we can so we've come to you, our informants have told us that MR. House has also affiliated with the Enclave that means they have a powerful ally Mr. House controls New Vegas the only place where Casinos still exist he has a Powerful robot army and limitless resources. We need your help." said the general.

"We're only a militia we don't have the supplies or firepower for a war." said preston

"You have the people's support they are willing to fight alongside you. We can provide weapons and transports from tanks to Vertibirds but you guys can give us the numbers and support we need. Will you help us fight this common enemy?" asked Elder Sigru.

Preston looked over at Ronnie

"what should we do?"asked Preston

"Sir we all took an oath and swore to protect the people of the Commonwealth at all costs and if that means helping fight a war then so be it." Ronnie said.

"Then it's settled, On behalf of the Minutemen we'd be honored to join." said Preston

"Today our forces join together to stop an evil I can't well Imagine, the NCR will be proud to fight alongside you." said the General saluting

"The Brotherhood of Steel will Stand by you, Ad Victoriam!" said the Elder giving a Brotherhood salute

"The Minutemen will always protect the people Commonwealth or not." said Preston.

With that they began discussing battle plans to fight this newly arisen threat. In the following days the newly appointed General of the Minutemen gave a speech to all those under their banner.

"To all citizens who stand by the minutemen this is General Garvey Speaking, A few days ago fort Sanctuary was suddenly attacked by the combined forces of caesar's legion and the Enclave. Our Great fort was destroyed but from the ashes we will rise I ask that you stand by us as we join the NCR and Brotherhood of Steel in fighting this rotten cancer that is spreading across the wasteland. As I Speak our men get ready for war, we will not surrender until our last bullet and our last breath!"

The wasteland carries many tales of gunslingers in the west, to secret societies in the east, this is but one of the many tales passed on as the generations go by, how it ends is a mystery only time can reveal as war fastly approaches the wasteland once more. If this tale has taught you anything it's that war, war never changes….

To Be Continued


End file.
